Our Totally Festive MPs’ Holiday Gift List

Three Day Road is a fantastic, passionate work of historical fiction by the great Canadian author Joseph Boyden. Taking readers back nearly a century, the story explores a momentous chapter of our country’s history and takes readers on a captivating adventure through time. Highly recommended this holiday season!

Tom Mulcair
NDP MP for Outremont, NDP Leader

Political thrillers have become quite popular recently, highlighted by House of Cards and Borgen as viewing options, but we have not seen a great Canadian political thriller reach the small or big screen. There is however some tremendous writing that could become the basis for such a script. Author Stephen Maher (known to iPolitics readers) has made his contribution to the genre with the exciting novel Deadline. Another is my suggestion for a holiday gift this year, Péril sur le fleuve by former journalist Daniel Lessard. It will captivate readers by tapping into ongoing important environmental issues in Canada.

Navdeep Bains
LPC MP for Mississauga-Malton, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development

I’m a hard-core sports fan. I like my NBA basketball (Go, Raptors!). But my favourite Canadian mini-series is Anne of Green Gables. I’ve watched it twice with my wife. It reminds me of her. My daughters, who are six and nine, are at that age where they can enjoy this Canadian classic with us. My eldest daughter is spirited and mischievous and speaks her mind — just like Anne Shirley. I guess my daughter takes after me in that way. When I was a kid, I was a bit of a troublemaker. I’m not sure I really outgrew that phase. Maybe I’ve just put it to better use.

Peter Julian
NDP MP for New Westminster-Burnaby

Two classic Canadian films that make terrific holiday gifts for film lovers:
Robert Lepage’s The Confessional was a multi-award winning film that continues to be a groundbreaker today for the strength of its characters and the extraordinary transitions in the film between past and present. Filmed in Québec City.
Flower & Garnet is an award-winning film from British Columbia. Keith Behrman won numerous awards internationally for his first feature film. It’s a gripping drama about a family trying to survive intense and prolonged crisis in Ashcroft, B.C., and features the landscape of that beautiful region.

Elizabeth May
GPC MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands, Green Party leader

For my Christmas basket I offer a sampler from the writers of Saanich-Gulf Islands. For crackling wit over a wintry fire, Arthur Black’s latest, Fifty Shades of Black. To indulge in page turners, I give you the full collection of William Deverell’s Arthur Beauchamp novels. Our weathered and brilliant lawyer keeps trying to retire to his paradise on the Gulf Islands, only to be drawn back into tricky cases, complicated by his wife, an organic gardener turned MP — and Leader of the Green Party.

For poetry, Lorna Crozier and The Blue Hour of the Day, and Patrick Lane’s collection Washita. For prose that reads like poetry, Brian Brett’s latest Tuco: The Parrot, the Others, and A Scattershot World. And Ronald Wright … which one — A Short History of Progress, or the latest, a novel, The Gold Eaters? Well, I’ll give you both. And Robert Bateman’s latest, Life Sketches: A Memoir. And for fun, I throw in a collection of Raffi CDs. Merry Christmas!!

In 1993, Jann Arden broke onto the Canadian music scene. Since then, she’s been a beloved female Canadian music icon. Years later, with 12 albums and 19 top-ten singles under her belt, she’s still making music all ages can enjoy including my favourite, Will You Remember Me?. It’s haunting, beautiful and makes me think of all the people I love who have passed. I love her music and her brand new Christmas CD, like all of her albums, does not disappoint. Any of Jann’s CDs would make a great Canadian gift this Christmas to celebrate a strong, sassy, Canadian woman and the holiday season!

Charlie Angus
NDP MP for Timmins — James Bay

I am recommending the vinyl edition of Song and Dance Man by Jason Collett. He is one of Canada’ great underrated treasures — musical mentor, promoter and continual shape-shifter with young bands and new ideas. But he speaks with biting social insight:

“There’s a handful of pennies. Kickstart some things. If you can tweet something brilliant. You got a market in plan. Tingling and jingling. Living in a van. If we can just sell some t-shirts. We could pay for the gas.” I’ve hung out with Collett since we were teens. He has been on a relentless journey seeking out new ideas, artists and sounds.

Melanie Joly
LPC for Ahuntsic-Cartierville, heritage minister

As a Montrealer and a lover of music, the Leonard Cohen album Various Positions is an obvious choice. Leonard Cohen was one of our greatest poets and his timeless and universal work will continue to inspire future generations around the world.

Candice Bergen
CPC MP for Portage-Lisgar, Conservative House leader

From a farming family in picturesque Plum Coulee to performing at Carnegie Hall and the Vatican, violinist Rosemary Siemens is a prime example of some of the extraordinary talent that comes out of my riding of Portage-Lisgar. Rosemary recently put her hometown on the map with her album Plum Coulee, My Home. I’m so proud of Rosemary, and of all the local talent in Portage-Lisgar. It would make a great gift for any bluegrass music fan in your life.

Peter C. Newman just released a new book called Hostages to Fortune, about the United Empire Loyalists. He spent a lot of time in Gananoque last year, writing the book. I’m looking forward to sitting down and reading it because I have a lot of interest in the United Empire Loyalists, having grown up in a loyalist town.